Microsoft recognizes that organizations with branch offices spend too much time and money managing IT systems remotely. The Microsoft Branch Office solution helps to simplify delivery of services to the branch office. It offers the distributed enterprise an easy-to-manage, security-enhanced, high-performance infrastructure that delivers cost-effective IT services across the WAN. Specifically, Microsoft Windows Branch Office Appliance solutions incorporate Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 and Microsoft ISA Server 2006 and allows for the export of network services such as Active Directory, Domain Name Service (DNS), Windows Internet Service (WINS), Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP), etc.–functionalities not permitted in the ISA Server–only SKUs.

Benefits of the Branch Office Appliance solution include:

• Operational efficiency and reduced cost
  
• Security and reliability
  
• Productive workers

Windows Server 2003 provides the underlying technology that can be used to simplify integration of branch office servers into the IT environment. With Windows Server 2003 R2, companies can maintain the performance, availability, and productivity benefits of a local branch office server while avoiding the negative issues that are typically associated with branch office environments, such as limited connectivity and management overhead.

Windows Server 2003 R2 helps to:

• Keep the business running smoothly by utilizing faster data replication
  
• Manage infrastructure more easily with centralized management tools
  
• Reduce administrative costs by minimizing the need for local backup

Microsoft Windows Branch Office Appliance is an integrated platform delivering essential services for operating and protecting an isolated network in branch offices tethered by WAN or the Internet to corporate data centers. OoEMs can quickly develop and deploy this solution as an addition to their server or dedicated server appliance portfolio, broadening their offerings and providing a more complete solution set to their customers.